Reducing roadkill is just one issue being considered in the surface
transportation reauthorization bill moving through Congress. The Senate
included provisions in its bill, S. 1072, aimed at reducing habitat
fragmentation and wildlife/ vehicle collisions— ultimately saving millions
of animals while increasing public safety. The Senate provisions would
require states to formally consider the need for wildlife crossing
structures (underpasses, culverts, or overpasses) when constructing or
improving highways -- a critical preventative step in solving the roadkill
problem. However, as the transportation bill is taken up in the House of
Representatives, these important wildlife protection provisions may be
lost. If they are, it will be another six years before we have another
opportunity to put into law these common sense provisions on behalf of
wildlife and public safety. In the meantime, millions of animals will lose
their lives trying to cross highways in search of food and mates, and the
very survival of many species -- from box turtles to grizzly bears -- will
be compromised.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please contact your U.S. Representative today. Ask him
or her to contact Transportation Committee Chairman Don Young and Ranking
Democrat James Oberstar and urge them to include in the Committee’s
transportation bill the wildlife crossing provisions approved by the
Senate (Section 1501 of S. 1072). All U.S. Representatives can be reached
through the U.S. Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121. You can look up the
name of your Representative by going online to
www.Congress.org, or by calling The HSUS at 202-955-3668.